Can openers



D. R. FYFE CAN OPENERS May 12, 1970 Filed March 8, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 1Inventor flan/Aw I? FYFE' D. R. FYFE CAN OPENERS May 12, 1970 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 8, 1968 2 wk 5N Inventor 30mm BFE May 12,1970 D. R. FYFE 3,510,941

CAN OPENERS Filed March 8, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 I men (or May 12, 1970D, FYFE 3,510,941v

I CAN OPENERS Filed March 8, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 n verifor @NAw/QFYFEMay 12, 1970 D. R. FYFE 3,510,941

CAN OPENERS Filed March 8, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Invgnfor United StatesPatent 3,510,941 CAN OPENERS Donald Ross Fyfe, Wembley Park, England,assignor to The Metal Box Company Limited, London, England, a Britishcompany Filed Mar. 8, 1968, Ser. No. 711,791 Claims priority,application Great Britain, Mar. 23, 1967,

13,814/ 67 Int. Cl. B671 7/34 US. Cl. 30-155 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE In a can opener of the kind in which a rotatable cutter isarranged to cut through the seaming wall of a double seam by which a canend is secured to a can body, the cutter and a wheel having a chuck wallengaging surface and which is arranged to engaged the top of the seamingwall radius of the can are rotatable with spindles appropriate theretoand which are mounted substantially at right angles one to the other ina housing common thereto. An abutment parallel with the wheel spindleextends from the housing at the trailing end thereof to engage the topof the seaming wall radius of the can and a second abutment provided onthe housing engages the side of the can during a cutting operation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the invention This inventionrelates to can openers and in particular to a can opener of the kindhaving a rotatable cutter arranged to cut through the seaming wall of adouble seam by which a can end is secured to a can body. Such a canopener will be referred to herein and in the appended claims as a canopener of the kind described.

(2) Description of the prior art There have been a number of priorproposals for can openers of the kind described but many of suchproposals have involved making a can seam of special shape toaccommodate the characteristics of the opener while in other instancesconsiderable skill was needed to operate the opener. Further, thecutters employed usually tend to produce undesirable metal slivers whichslivers are produced by the action of the cutter as it severs the metaland also by scraping of the cutter against the can seam It is a mainobject of the present invention to provide a simple economical form ofopener of the kind described which will cut through the seaming wall ofa can seam, preferably in the region of the seaming wall radius, whichcan be used in opening cans of the full range of diameters now used bythe canning industry, and which can be employed by users having varyingdegrees of dexterity. A further object of the invention is to provide anopener which during operation does not create metal slivers.

SUMMARY According to the invention there is provided a can opener of thekind described comprising a rotatable cutter, a wheel having a chuckwall engaging face and a peripheral surface parallel to the axis of thewheel and arranged to engage the top of the seaming wall radius of acan, said cutter and wheel being rotatable with spindles appropriatethereto and mounted substantially at right angles one to the other in ahousing common thereto, means associated with one of said spindles toeffect rotation thereof, a first abutment substantially parallel withthe wheel spindle and extending from a face of the housing at thetrailing end thereof, considered in the direction of movement of thehousing during a cutting opera- 3,51%,941 Patented May 12, 1970 "icetion, and arranged to engage the top of the seaming wall radius to tiltthe housing about the wheel spindle when said peripheral surface of thewheel is engaged with the top of the seaming wall radius thereby todetermine the angle between the plane of cutting edge of the cutter andthe horizontal plane of the top of the seaming wall radius, and a secondabutment provided on the housing and arranged to engage the side of thecan during a cutting operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a section of a part of a canto be opened by a can opener of the kind described,

FIG. 2 is an end view, partly in section, of a can opener according tothe invention,

FIG. 3 is a view looking in the direction of arrow III, FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 illustrates the mode of operation of the can opener,

FIG. 5 is a view looking in the direction of arrow V, FIG. 4,

FIG. 6 is part of FIG. 4 drawn to an enlarged scale,

FIG. 7 diagrammatically illustrates the location of the cutter relativeto the seam on first application of the can opener to the can,

FIG. 8 illustrates diagrammatically the position of the cutter relativeto the seam during cutting of the seam,

FIG. 9 is a view similar to that of FIG. 2 and illustrates amodification thereto.

FIG. 10 is a section through a modified form of the can opener,

FIG. 11 is an elevation looking in the direction of arrow XI, FIG. 10,and

FIG. 12 is a section through a handle fitted to the opener of FIGS. 10and 11.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, a can to beopened by a can opener according to the invention comprises a can body 1having a can end 2 double-seamed thereto in the normal manner. Thedouble seam consists of a can hook 3 bent over from the top of body 1and located between the cover hook 4 and the seaming wall 5 of the canend. It will be understood that the wall 5 is engaged against the hook 3and that in the drawings it is shown spaced from hook 3 solely forclarity of illustrating the mode of operation of the can opener. Theseaming wall 5 is connected by a seaming wall radius 6 with a chuck wall7 which engages the inner surface of the can body 1.

The can opener according to the invention comprises a cutter 8 offrusto-conical form, the larger end of which forms the cutting edge. Itshould be understood that the angle A, FIG. 8, of the cutter must beselected according to the depth of cut required and that the angle Amust not be too steep if a cut of undue depth is to be avoided. Thecutting edge has shallow nicks 9, FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, which are spacedapart around the cutting edge. The opener also includes a wheel 10 whichhas a conical chuck wall engaging face 11 and a peripheral surface 12parallel to the axis of the wheel and arranged to engage the top of theseaming wall radius 6. The face 11 and the surface 12 are preferablyknurled to facilitate gripping of the can seam during a cuttingoperation. The cutter 8 which may, if desired, be backed by a thrustwasher 8a, and wheel 10 are respectively rotatable with spindles 13, 14which spindles are mounted at rightangles one to the other in a housing15 common thereto. Any suitable means is associated with one of thespindles 13, 14 to effect rotation thereof and, as shown in thedrawings, such means comprises a handle 16 which is coupled to thespindle 14, it is, however, to be understood that the opener may bepower operated instead of manually operated.

An abutment 17, FIGS. 3 to 5, extends from a face of the housing 15 atthe trailing end thereof, considered in the direction of movement of thehousing during a cutting operation, see FIG. 5, and the abutment 17 isarranged to engage the top of the seaming wall radius 6 to tilt thehousing 15 about the wheel spindle 14 when the peripheral surface 12 ofthe wheel 10 is engaged with the top of the seaming wall radius 6,thereby to determine the angle between the plane 18, FIGS. 5, 7 and 8,of the cutting edge of the cutter and the horizontal plane 19 of the topof the seaming wall radius. A second abutment 15a, FIGS. 2 to 4,integral with housing 15 is disposed beneath the cutter =8 and slidesalong the side of the can during a can-opening operation.

When the opener is first applied to the can, the plane 18 of the cuttingedge makes with the horizontal plane 19 of the top of the seaming wallradius an angle of about 30 as shown in FIG. 7. When, however, thecutter is caused to bite into the seam at a position approximately atthe junction of the seaming wall with the seaming wall radius 6, asshown in FIG. 6, the angle changes to one of about 12 /2 as shown inFIG. 8. To obtain the best results the working angle between the planes18, 19 is between 10 and When operated in these conditions the cutter 8tends to effect a slight curling of the metal on either side of the cut,as illustrated in FIG. 6, making the opened can safe to handle. For thisreason the distance D, FIG. 6, between the top of the seaming wallradius and the position of cutting is important. The angle of the cutterensures that the top and side pressure exerted by the faces 12 and 11,FIG. 4, which latter forms an obtuse angle with the axis of the wheelspindle 14, of the wheel 10 is fully maintained. It is not essentialthat the edge of the cut ter be provided with the nicks 9 but when theseries of equi-spaced shallow nicks 9 are formed in the cutter edge theyensure that the action of the cutter does not produce metal slivers.

The operation of the can opener is facilitated by providing that thecutter :8 and wheel 10 have a greater relative spacing when the openeris applied to the seam of a can than when the cutter is performing acutting operation. This may be achieved in a number of ways but, asshown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the handle 16 has a sleeve which is a slidingfit on the spindle 14 and which is connected to the spindle 14 by a pin21 which is fixed to the spindle 14 and is located in an angled slot 22formed in the sleeve 20.

The housing 15 is provided with a seam locating slot 23, FIG. 3, whichextends across the face of the housing from which the abutment 17extends. When the opener is applied to a can, this being facilitated bya reverse turning of the handle 16, the seam of the can is located inthe slot 23 and the forward edge 24, FIG. 3, of the slot rests on thetop of the seaming wall radius 6. As the handle 16 is rotated the pin 21moves in slot 22 to draw the wheel 10 into contact with the seam and asthe cutter 8 bits into the seam the angle between the opener and the canchanges until the abutment 17 rests on the top of the seaming wallradius 6. When the opening operation has been completed the handle 16 isturned in a reverse direction to move the pin 21 back in the slot 22 andso slacken the wheel 10 on the seam to enable removal of the can opener.

As shown in FIG. 3, the housing 15 is integral with a handle 25 by whichthe opener is held during a can opening operation.

FIG. 9 illustrates a modification to the can opener as described above,which modification consists of the positioning of a spring, or springs,26 between the sleeve 20 and the housing 15. As shown in FIG. 9 two discsprings 26, are located in a recess 27 formed in the housing 15. Thesesprings tend to urge the sleeve 20 axially away from the wheel 10 andpermit the opener to cater for can seams of varying thickness, forexample seams the thickness of which varies between 0.035 inch and 0.090inch.

FIGS. 10 and 11 illustrate another modified form of the can opener inwhich the handle 16 is slidable axially on the wheel spindle 14 andwashers 28 and disc springs 26 are located between the housing 15 andthe handle 16. In this embodiment a pin 29 fast in the wheel spindle 14co-operates with abutments 30, FIG. 11, in the handle 16 to effectrotation of the spindle 14 and cam faces 31, FIG. 12 urge the handletowards the cutter when the handle is initially rotated in the directionof cutting until the pin 29 is engaged with the abutments 30 to effectrotation of the spindle 14. At the end of the cutting operation reverserotation of the handle disengages the pin 29 from the abutments 30.

From the foregoing it will be understood that with can openersconstructed as herein described it is not necessary to provide a gearlink between the wheel 10 and the cutter 8.

I claim:

1. A can opener for opening a can having a seaming wall comprising arotatable cutter having a cutting edge engageable with one side of theseaming Wall of a can, a wheel having a face engageable with the otherside of the seaming wall of a can and having a peripheral surfaceparallel to the axis of the wheel and engageable with the top of theseaming wall of a can, a first spindle rotatably mounting said cutterand a second spindle rotatably mounting said wheel, a housing, saidfirst and second spindles being mounted within said housing atsubstantially right angles to one another, operating means associatedwith one of said spindles to effect rotation thereof, first abutmentmeans on said housing and spaced from said wheel in a trailing directionconsidered with respect to the direction of movement of the housingduring a cutting operation and arranged to engage the top of the seamingwall of the can to tilt the housing about said second spindle when saidperipheral surface of the wheel is engaged with the top of the seamingwall of a can thereby to determine the angle between the plane of thecutting edge of the cutter and the horizontal plane of the top of theseaming wall of the can, and a second abutment on said housing andarranged to engage the side of a can during a cutting operation.

2. A can opener as defined in claim 1 wherein the cutting edge of cutteris provided with shallow nicks spaced apart around the cutting edge.

3. A can opener as defined in claim 2 wherein the cutter issubstantially frusto-conical in configuration, the larger end thereofdefining said cutting edge.

4. A can opener as defined in claim 1 wherein said housing includes aseam-locating slot which extends across the face of the housing.

5. A can opener as defined in claim 1 wherein said second spindle isaxially movable with respect to said housing and said first spindle.

6. A can opener as defined in claim 5 wherein said operating means isconnected with said second spindle so as to cause axial movement of saidsecond spindle with respect to said housing upon rotation of saidoperating means.

7. A can opener as defined in claim 6 wherein said operating means has acam connection with said second spindle.

8. A can opener as defined in claim 6 wherein said operating means isconnected with said second spindle for axial movement with respectthereto.

9. A can opener as defined in claim 8 wherein said operating means isalso connected with said second spindle for rotation with respectthereto to provide a camming effect on said second spindle upon rotationof said operat ing means whereby said cutter and wheel have a greaterrelative spacing when the opener is applied to the seam of a can thanwhen the cutter is performing cutting operation. 10. A can opener asdefined in claim 1 wherein said operating means is connected with saidsecond spindle for axial movement with respect thereto and meansresiliently uring said operating means away from said wheel. 11. A canopener as defined in claim 1 wherein said second spindle is axiallymovable with respect to said housing and said first spindle, saidoperating means being connected with said second spindle so as to causeaxial movement of said second spindle with respect to said housing uponrotation of said operating means, said operating means being connectedwith said second spindle for axial movement with respect thereto, andmeans resiliently urging said operating means away from said wheel.

12. A can opener as defined in claim 1 wherein said housing is mountedon a handle.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,356,581 10/1920 Wolff 308.52,997,786 8/1961 Kean 309 3,094,776 6/1963 Smith 3015.5 3,110,96211/1963 Krist 30-4 10 3,206,849 9/1965 Marden 308.5

OTHELL M. SIMPSON, Primary Examiner G. F. GRAFEL, Assistant Examiner

